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Old 06-07-2019, 04:45 PM   #11
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The hard part of welding in a bushing will be getting the egg shaped hole round enough to accept the bushing with a reasonably good fit. If the bushing doesn't have a decent amount of contact in the hole, there will be gaps, and that could eventually allow the bushing to move and the weld to crack. I'd hope to see at least 75% of the hole cleaned up. Ideally, the hole would be opened on a milling machine that is rigid enough to get the hole straight and round with a minimum of material removal, but that may be impossible. Trying to drill it out by hand could be really difficult, but perhaps a magnetic base drill press could be used.

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Old 06-08-2019, 07:20 AM   #12
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The hard part of welding in a bushing will be getting the egg shaped hole round enough to accept the bushing with a reasonably good fit. If the bushing doesn't have a decent amount of contact in the hole, there will be gaps, and that could eventually allow the bushing to move and the weld to crack. I'd hope to see at least 75% of the hole cleaned up. Ideally, the hole would be opened on a milling machine that is rigid enough to get the hole straight and round with a minimum of material removal, but that may be impossible. Trying to drill it out by hand could be really difficult, but perhaps a magnetic base drill press could be used.

^^^^^^^ yep, what he said ^^^^^^^


Opening up the hole and making a custom weld in bushing certainly could work, depending on how close the original hole is to the edge of the inner C. This bushing, will have to be thick enough wall to support a weld, but thin enough not to weaken the inner C. wo/pictures I'm going off memory.



This is a case where the guy doing the repair, really needs the skills of a gray-haired grumpy old machinist.


Making certain the hole is not only cleaned up to accept a weld-in bushing, but winds up in the correct location, is key. Having the new hole centerline out of location by as little as 1/32", could mean caster, or camber is out by several degrees during alignment, and no adjuster eccentric will have enough offset to adjust it back into spec.



Anyhow, good luck with whichever fix route you settle on
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Old 06-08-2019, 12:06 PM   #13
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The insert solution from my mechanic to you all sounds very discouraging. UJ seems to be pushing for that. Hopefully once I get some pixs and he speaks to the local shop he'll have a better understanding. Plus finding a good machinist or welder around these parts is not easy and how much trust I'll have in someone to do it perfect! I don't need anymore redoes!!! I'm just assuming that if I were to get an 05 or newer axle housing most everything from the current axle I would be able to swap if everything is still in good shape? Just the labor is going to be $$$$!
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Old 06-08-2019, 05:02 PM   #14
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If you found a decent replacement axle its actually pretty easy to pull the front axle off the vehicle and replace it with a new one. Undo the spring keeper bolt and take shock nuts off. Then disconnect the track bar and drag link. Lift the weight of the vehicle off the axle and then remove the rear radius arm bolts and boom it's off. I took mine out in a couple hours and it took maybe 3 to get it back in because I took my time since you dont want to mess it up.

Most of the time would be taken up swapping everything from that axle into the other one but you wouldnt even have to worry about dealing with the brakes because you could just pull and hang them.
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Old 06-08-2019, 06:44 PM   #15
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If you found a decent replacement axle its actually pretty easy to pull the front axle off the vehicle and replace it with a new one. Undo the spring keeper bolt and take shock nuts off. Then disconnect the track bar and drag link. Lift the weight of the vehicle off the axle and then remove the rear radius arm bolts and boom it's off. I took mine out in a couple hours and it took maybe 3 to get it back in because I took my time since you dont want to mess it up.

Most of the time would be taken up swapping everything from that axle into the other one but you wouldnt even have to worry about dealing with the brakes because you could just pull and hang them.
Good to know! I think I do have a line on an axle an hour away. Just waiting to see what Chris says,but I'm growing a little inpatient. Van has been at the shop all but 3 days since 5/13, and it's my only vehicle. It's been at the shop more days than I have driven it in 2019!
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Old 06-09-2019, 09:39 AM   #16
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The insert solution from my mechanic to you all sounds very discouraging...!

I see you are on Puerto Rico. To me, finding a replacement vs fixing, because of high shipping costs and dealing with used parts over the phone/internet would be a huge consideration. I have friends in Hawaii with the same problem.



I didn't mean to encourage or discourage one plan or another, just trying to get you back on the road with a 'one and done' repair, as little cost as possible. With where you live, the fix is going to take time, no getting around that.


Does someone make/sell a weld-in repair bushing? I've never seen one, but that doesn't mean much.



I wanted to point out that a high quality repair is needed. Asking 98% of the auto mechanics out there to repair this is like asking a guy that frames and roofs houses, to build a fine wood jewelry box for your wife's birthday. I don't think you'll be able to pull off a good fix with the housing still in the van, but then, I'm not looking at it in person.



Replacing the housing: The other thing to consider is gearing. If you get a replacement housing, you'll have to be sure to end up with the same gear ratio as when you started. If you bought a stage 2 from UJOR, you may have also bought new gears to match the rear axle's gear ratio. You can always pay to have someone change your old gears into the replacement housing, set up the pattern, etc., in California, just gear swap labor can cost $400-$500, and most general mechanics can't do it, they don't do enough of them, you need a specialist. Another thing to take into consideration when deciding fix vs replace.



Speaking of machinists, PR has some top notch fabricators and machinists, for such a small land mass. There's a lot of import drag car racers with very fast cars, and some serious talent. If it were me, I'd figure out who does high quality racecar fabrication, and see if I could get someone who knows how to do precision mill work interested.
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Old 06-09-2019, 10:28 AM   #17
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I see you are on Puerto Rico. To me, finding a replacement vs fixing, because of high shipping costs and dealing with used parts over the phone/internet would be a huge consideration. I have friends in Hawaii with the same problem.



I didn't mean to encourage or discourage one plan or another, just trying to get you back on the road with a 'one and done' repair, as little cost as possible. With where you live, the fix is going to take time, no getting around that.


Does someone make/sell a weld-in repair bushing? I've never seen one, but that doesn't mean much.



I wanted to point out that a high quality repair is needed. Asking 98% of the auto mechanics out there to repair this is like asking a guy that frames and roofs houses, to build a fine wood jewelry box for your wife's birthday. I don't think you'll be able to pull off a good fix with the housing still in the van, but then, I'm not looking at it in person.



Replacing the housing: The other thing to consider is gearing. If you get a replacement housing, you'll have to be sure to end up with the same gear ratio as when you started. If you bought a stage 2 from UJOR, you may have also bought new gears to match the rear axle's gear ratio. You can always pay to have someone change your old gears into the replacement housing, set up the pattern, etc., in California, just gear swap labor can cost $400-$500, and most general mechanics can't do it, they don't do enough of them, you need a specialist. Another thing to take into consideration when deciding fix vs replace.



Speaking of machinists, PR has some top notch fabricators and machinists, for such a small land mass. There's a lot of import drag car racers with very fast cars, and some serious talent. If it were me, I'd figure out who does high quality racecar fabrication, and see if I could get someone who knows how to do precision mill work interested.
Vans actually located in Durango,Co. I live in PR 7-8 months of the year. That's where home is in all general purposes. I usually have lived out of a camper in Mex/Co. and traveled during the summer. Did that in the Van last summer for the most part. Co to AK back to CO then Baja. Was stuck longer in Co. cause the transfer case blew going up to Bridal Falls in Telluride. Had to reverse down the road with no gears and get winched around the switch backs. Not fun! Still can't figure out how the N271 blew? Barley ever used it "indestructible" they say! Because where I'm currently located the replacement housing seems like the safest option. Will have to try and swith out the gears to the 4.56 gears. I've been told Jeff at Buitlt to Last here is good with axles. I have friend that bought UJ 1st coil van from Chris the A-team looking thing? His seals blew on his axle and the shop had to go in and replace a lot stuff. And they have done a lot of axle work for him on other vans. So hopefully it all goes smooth. Just kinda lucky my GF forced me to rent a place for the summer in Durango and I'm not couch surfing wearing out my welcome everywhere. I went back to PR 3 weeks ago thought the van would be already to go when I got back. Nope. When they finished the tail-house they noticed the lower ball joint. Thought it was going to be a simple ball joint replacement. Nope
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Old 06-09-2019, 12:07 PM   #18
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I'd be pressing Chris to ship you a replacement axle. It's just the right thing for him to do, especially if he want's to maintain his good reputation around here.
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Old 06-14-2019, 10:11 AM   #19
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Good morning

If I was just getting a bare axle housing to swap all my current axles parts and guts for a MG coil conversion would any Ford front Dana 60 05 and up housing work for swapping everything? I'm pretty sure mines an 05 axle but going to try and check the BOM#. Found one not to far away out of a 2011 F350 SD for pretty cheap. Figured might save me some $ on labor not having to strip a new axle. Crickets from UJ so might just get this going. 31 days and counting at the shop. If I get the housing next week shop said good possibility be done before the 4th.
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Old 06-14-2019, 03:18 PM   #20
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Was stuck longer in Co. cause the transfer case blew going up to Bridal Falls in Telluride.
FYI:

"Mercon V is NOT FOR USE IN TRANSFER CASES printed in bold right there on the bottle."

"I remember this coming out to Dealerships IIRC, the XL-12 is a Gear Lubricant (GL) and the Mercon-V is not. There is no similarities between the Tx Case and AT operation. It was supposed to provide quieter operation, better gear lubrication and reduced heat in the Tx case. I can't speak to prevention of failure. I think the thought process was Mercon works, but why wouldn't you use something better if available."

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ners-read.html

I don't know that Mercon V is the cause of transfer case failure or not. But Ford came out with a specific Transfer Case Fluid after this.

https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Ford-...gateway&sr=8-1
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